Unprofessional and poor communication.

I had one of the most unprofessional, frustrating, and painful dental experiences at Medipark Dentist Centre, and I believe it’s only right to share this in detail so others know what they might be walking into.

I’m a final-year intern (also doing a health sciences degree), which means I have very limited time as I’m working full-time to complete my internship hours for my degree. Due to a severe toothache and being on Discovery KeyCare, I had to find a dentist within the network. Medipark came up, and I urgently requested the soonest available appointment. The earliest they could offer was 20 March 2025 with Dr. Olwage.

At my first visit on 12 March, an X-ray was taken, and I was informed that I needed a root canal, which would happen in two parts. Everything seemed fine, and I was prescribed antibiotics and scheduled for Part 1 on 20 March. That visit went smoothly.

The real issues began with Part 2 on 11 April.

While the dentist was working in my mouth, both she and her assistant started casually chatting over me—and not in a friendly, comforting way. They were discussing a different patient who had passed out after being given some medication, and were speculating about her condition in Afrikaans, despite me having spoken English throughout my appointments. I felt extremely uncomfortable, especially since this was not just unprofessional—it was a serious breach of patient confidentiality.

They continued talking about non-work-related topics like how the assistant is a “dog mom” and other personal anecdotes—conversations more suited for a coffee shop than over a dental procedure. It was completely unprofessional and made me feel like I was not being taken seriously.

They eventually inserted the AP (a small wire to fill the cleaned canal) and struggled to get a proper X-ray. I couldn’t open my mouth any wider, and despite their visible difficulty seeing whether the AP was correctly placed near the gum, they decided to go with the one image they got, saying it “looked fine.” I had no experience with root canals, so I trusted their judgment. I was told I might have pain for a day or two.

By 16 April, I was still in pain. I emailed them, and they responded with another prescription for antibiotics. The pain lessened temporarily but returned worse than before—with radiating headaches and sleepless nights even with pain meds. I did some research and saw that while mild pain could last a few weeks, others I know who’ve had root canals were pain-free within a day or two. I waited over a month, but it just worsened.

Around 16 May, I received an outstanding bill from them. I rep**** saying I was not willing to pay because they had clearly made things worse. I explained that I couldn’t keep missing work for unsuccessful appointments. I got no response.

After calling multiple times, I finally spoke to the dentist, who sounded apologetic and said I could return for a free follow-up. Only at this point did I learn that they actually offer evening appointments until 7PM on Mondays, which would’ve saved me so much trouble if I’d known sooner.

On 26 May, I went in. They took another X-ray, which showed that the AP had been inserted too deep into my gum. Comparing this image to the original one, it was clear the initial X-ray had been inadequate. That should’ve been a red flag during the first procedure. But instead of taking responsibility, the dentist gave me the usual medical cover phrases: “It happens”—as if that was acceptable. She said an apicoectomy was now needed to correct the mistake.

I agreed to the apicoectomy. However, I received a call the very next day saying they now wanted to remove and reinsert the AP instead—because, apparently, the apicoectomy would leave me in pain for 6 months. Desperate to be pain-free, I agreed to the change.

But the surprises didn’t stop there. On 28 May, I got another call—this time from a front desk lady—confirming my appointment with a completely different dentist, which I was never informed about. I expressed my confusion, but she assumed I was fully aware. I agreed to go anyway just to get clarity.

On 29 May, I was seen by a very young male dentist, which immediately raised concerns. It felt like they were trying to pass me off to someone else rather than fixing their own error. He removed the AP and medicated the tooth—but only afterward told me this was Part 1 of a brand new root canal, and I’d need to come back in four weeks to complete it. This was never communicated beforehand, and I was completely blindsided. When he asked whether I wanted him or Dr. Olwage to complete it, I said neither, and that I would get a second opinion from a more experienced professional.

As I walked out with my husband, we were stopped by a front desk lady who told us we needed to make a payment. I told her flat-out that I wasn’t paying for the damage caused by their team. This entire mess was due to their poor clinical decision-making.

Later, I realised I forgotten to get a letter to excuse my time off work. My husband went back to request one, and what happened next was appalling.

He explained to the front desk staff that we urgently needed a letter for work because it’s difficult for any employer to understand how a person could need multiple root canal procedures on the same tooth, especially in such a short time. One of the staff responded with, “Some people do the same procedure two, three, four times.”

To which my husband rep****, “That should be an indication that something is going wrong.”

At that point, the staff became defensive and started arguing. One said,

“No, no, no—it’s not the dentist’s fault, it’s the tooth’s fault.”

That’s when things escalated. My husband pointed out the absurdity of that logic, saying,

“So you’ll just keep redoing the root canal until the tooth decides to behave?”

Instead of responding professionally, one of the women said:

“We’re women, we give birth—we know pain.”

To which my husband rep****:

“So did my wife.”

They told him the letter would be emailed the next morning, because both dentists had left already. We never received it

I later saw a more experienced dentist, who confirmed that an apicoectomy would’ve resolved the issue and that pain from it usually lasts only 1–2 weeks, not 6 months, but because they have already taken the AP out I need to wait the 4 weeks so that he can fix the tooth. I now firmly believe Medipark discouraged the apicoectomy because it was more expensive, and instead opted to redo the root canal as the cheaper fix, even though they were responsible for the original error.

To make matters worse, I noticed that the same woman who assisted me at the front desk during my first appointment was also the dental assistant during my second and third procedures. This only added to my concern about how this practice is being run. It raises serious questions about whether staff are being rotated between roles without proper structure or qualifications, and it reflects the overall disorganization and lack of professionalism I experienced throughout my visits.

⸻ Medipark Dentist Centre demonstrated a lack of clinical accuracy, poor patient communication, and incredibly unprofessional behavior both during treatment and in their handling of concerns. They’ve caused me prolonged pain, time lost from work, and extreme frustration. I cannot in good faith recommend this practice to anyone. You deserve better care and respect than this.